Update: As we write below, this will be a substance-less debate. It won’t even be Taxmageddon stuff. Our contribution to the substance-less debate (even though our information has substance because there is statistical/historical data to show it matters) is height. When we wrote Trump Towers we were not writing about height. Tonight, once again, Trump towers over the field. Trump is the tallest candidate on stage. Order of height is Trump, Carson, Kasich, Cruz, Rubio. Tallest candidate usually becomes president.

There will be no substance at tonight’s #GOPDebate. That does not mean it will be dull. The entertainment factor will be high. The traps against Donald J. Trump have been laid in public already. It will be fun to watch as the traps either catch Trump or Trump’s loser opponents. We’re betting on Trump hop and skipping over the traps then using the traps to ensnare the dopes.

First, why do we say this will be a substance-less debate? We know there won’t be substance tonight because it is long past substance. It is now a time to kill.

In any war you first have the strategic political/ideological/racial/geographic/territorial/egotistical justification(s) for war laid out. Then you go to war. Once you are at war it’s kill or be killed. It’s all about tactics now.

Once America and Japan went to war there was no need for soldiers in the battlefield to discuss the merits of their respective political systems and war aims as they loaded their guns and prepared to take territory. It was all simple: Kill or be killed.

That’s why tonight there will be talk, talk, talk, and blah, blah, blah, on substance, but the substance will be a tactic. Tonight, it is all about tactics. Trump’s GOP opponents are not too smart so the tactics against Trump reflect the same lack of intelligence. Now, let’s look at the tactical landscape for tonight’s GOP Debate in Texas.

Idiot tactic #1: The Bush clan will be in the debate audience tonight. This will be a replay of the “stack the audience” against Trump tactic we have seen in every debate. The Bush clan in the Texas GOP debate tonight will try to bring down Trump with their very presence and be the booing section against Trump. But the dunce son already lost. Fredo has left the building. This tactic won’t work and it is possible that Trump will attack the audience again, if necessary. It will be a vivid “outsider” versus “establishment” demonstration.

Idiot tactic #2: If you mention the word “idiot,” the face of Mitt Romney immediately pops to mind. Yesterday Mitt Romney tried to stack the deck against Trump. Romney was on the Cavuto show and claimed there was a “bombshell” in Trump’s tax returns and that is why Trump won’t release them. Romney’s attack was an attempt to help Marco Rubio tonight.

Romney wants the tax return question asked tonight to Trump. Romney knows that Rubio will release his tax returns soon and tonight Rubio will either announce the release of his tax returns or announce when he will release his tax returns. It’s all a set-up. The moderators will ask Trump about his tax returns and then Rubio will say “I’m releasing my tax returns and I call on Trump and Cruz and everyone else to release their tax returns as I lead the way.” It’s so obvious and silly, it’s hardly worth a mention except that we giggle every time we think of what Trump will do with this silly attack.

Mitt Romney’s shameful attack on Trump, suggesting there is something like a “bombshell” in them is exactly the slimy attack Harry Reid carried out against Romney in 2012. Romney, who dared not attack Obama, now dares attack Trump with unreserved vitriol and lies. The GOP establishment that enabled Obama and call Obama “nice” goes all out war against the GOP frontrunner!!! Does Harry Reid applaud his fellow Mormon, dumbass Romney, taking a play from his book of slime? No, Reid mocks idiot Romney:

Harry Reid spent months attacking Mitt Romney in 2012 for not releasing his tax returns. Now the Democratic leader is at it again, after Romney suggested this week there could be a “bombshell” in Donald Trump’s tax returns.

An incredulous Reid mocked Romney’s statements about Trump’s taxes when the Nevadan was asked about them on Thursday.

“Ha, ha. (Romney) never gave us his tax returns. Who was the brainchild that got him to do that?” Reid said at a news conference.”He gave us a summary. He never gave us his tax returns.”

Romney’s “bombshell” remark mirrored Reid’s repeated claims four years ago that an anonymous source told him that Romney hadn’t paid taxes for 10 years.

But could there be a bombshell in Trump’s tax returns? Reid wouldn’t say.

Will Donald Trump call for an investigation by the federal government to find out if Mitt Romney has violated IRS privacy laws? Will Donald Trump laugh at Romney and note that Rubio and Cruz have not released their tax returns. Will Donald Trump demand that Mitt Romney release his own tax returns? Will Donald Trump mock Rubio’s many debts? Will Donald Trump denounce the other candidates whose entire fortunes are based on their government service, not the private sector fortune built by the Trump family? Will very very rich and proud Donald Trump attack “tax and spend” establishment goopers and declare proudly he and every American do their utmost to pay as few taxes as possible? Trump has a lot of options. It will be entertaining to see which knife Trump pulls.

The two tactics above are but a trifle. Let’s examine the tactical decisions by all the candidates.

Trump’s tactical options are simple. Attack or just play defense? We suspect Trump will play it nice but counterattack ferociously all night long as he is attacked.

Who will attack Trump? Cruz has to attack Trump. Cruz has to win Texas. Cruz needed to win South Carolina in order to build momentum for his planned sweep of the southern primaries. But Cruz is a loser and now Cruz is fighting for his very life against a very real potential Trump victory in Texas. Cruz has other worries.

Cruz wants to level all his attacks against Trump. Logic dictates that Marco Rubio also wants to level all his attacks against Trump because Rubio is so far behind Trump even in Florida. But Rubio cannot afford to have Cruz score another victory against Trump. Cruz argues that he is the only one that has beaten Trump. A victory in Texas will solidify Cruz’s “only I can beat Trump” bombast.

So, if you were Rubio’s tactical adviser what would you advise? Should Rubio only attack Trump alongside Cruz? Should Rubio only attack Cruz alongside Trump (even though this probably helps Trump more than Rubio)? Should Rubio attack Trump a little bit and Cruz a lot? Should Cruz attack Cruz a lot and Trump a little bit? Lots of decisions for Rubio which might blow one of his circuits.

Or should Rubio be more worried about John Kasich? Rubio needs Kasich to get out so maybe Rubio should only attack Kasich and let Cruz beat up Trump and Trump beat up Cruz.

What about Carson? Should Carson clip his fingernails? Or should Carson help Trump? Should Carson attack Cruz to get back at Cruz for the dirty trick Cruz played against Carson in Iowa? Should Carson attack Rubio to help himself in Florida? Should Carson help Kasich to hurt Rubio? Should Carson side with the outsider Trump?

They are cur­rently peg­ging the race at 45% for Don­ald Trump with a mar­gin of error of 3.8%. Now if he pulls that num­ber, even with the MOE, the state would be a win­ner take most pro­por­tional state with him get­ting 41–49%.

How­ever, should he over­per­form like he has in some states, the state of Geor­gia has a win­ner take all trig­ger that will net him all of the 76 del­e­gates up for grabs.

An online Bloomberg Politics poll shows the billionaire is backed by 37 percent of likely Republican presidential primary voters in the seven states surveyed, while Senators Marco Rubio of Florida and Ted Cruz of Texas are tied at 20 percent.

Trump beats both Rubio and Cruz in hypothetical, one-on-one matchups in the region, weakening the argument that the front-runner’s march toward the nomination would be slowed if it were only a two-man race.

The real estate mogul and former reality television star is also more popular in the region than Pope Francis and he gets more support than the pontiff when it comes to their differing views on the Christianity of building walls, including among a majority of Catholics, after poll respondents were read the two men’s words.

The findings demonstrate the broad-based nature of Trump’s support and how primary voters — even conservatives and evangelicals who might find issues with his personal history — have accepted him, making it harder for his rivals to take him down.

The front-runner is stronger than both Cruz and Rubio on questions about authenticity, protecting against terrorism, ability to win a general election and having a positive vision for the future, while he’s weaker on questions about being a committed Christian and solid conservative. [snip]

At 24 percent, Trump is the most trusted by likely Republican primary voters in the seven states to appoint a new justice, followed by Cruz at 22 percent. Four in 10 say choosing a new justice isn’t a factor in their vote, while 20 percent say it’s a major factor and 36 percent say it’s a minor one.

Donald Trump wants an apology from a former Mexican president for using a bad word.

“FMR PRES of Mexico, Vicente Fox horribly used the F word when discussing the wall. He must apologize!” Trump tweeted Thursday afternoon, after Fusion published an interview with the former president in which he did not mince words.

In an interview with Fusion’s Jorge Ramos published earlier in the day, Fox remarked, “I’m not going to pay for that f—–g wall,” regarding the Republican presidential candidate’s proposal to build a wall along the border and make the Mexican government pay for it.

Trump has won the argument. The difference is now over who will pay for the wall, not whether the wall will be built.

Update: As we write below, this will be a substance-less debate. It won’t even be Taxmageddon stuff. Our contribution to the substance-less debate (even though our information has substance because there is statistical/historical data to show it matters) is height. When we wrote Trump Towers we were not writing about height. Tonight, once again, Trump towers over the field. Trump is the tallest candidate on stage. Order of height is Trump, Carson, Kasich, Cruz, Rubio. Tallest candidate usually becomes president.

Immigration. Deportation force? Good ones come back in. Cruz won’t let them back in at all.

Trump: Cruz was the amnesty leader. Ask Rubio. Without me we would not be discussing illegal immigration. They will have to come back legally. But only the best and through a process.

Cruz: The forgotten are the hardworking Americans and legal immigrants with lower wages. Illegal immigration lowers wages is what Arizona found out. We fight for those who work here. I led the fight against illegal immigration.

Trump: Sherriff Joe Arpaio endorsed me.

Blitzer: You for amnesty as Cruz charges?

Rubio: We first have to secure the border and visa overstays. Nothing until that happens. The truth is Trump’s positions are new to him. He attacked Romney on deportation. My mom was a maid. Trump hires illegals.

Cruz: Existing law. Trump is not the one who discovered illegal immigration. I led the fight against the Gang of Eight. Trump was firing Dennis Rodman on Celebrity Apprentice while I fought. Trump funded politicians who backed illegal immigration. I was the only one who fought illegal amnesty and Trump did hire illegal immigrants.

Trump: Your lobbyists are in the audience. I was a businessman and had friendly relationships with everybody. You don’t get along with anybody. No one in the Senate backs you.

Cruz: Trump promises to cut deals. If he cared he would not hire illegal immigrants or give money to Harry Reid. Stand for the working man. If you want to be liked in Washington don’t fight.

Trump: Corruption? He does not talk about the Goldman Sachs loans he paid no interest on.

Blitzer: Deportation can’t be done? Lawless?

Kasich: A path to legalization like under President Bush. Complete the border and then you can’t come in. I favor a guest worker program. Pay a fine, community service. Path to legalization but not citizenship. Deportation is not practical. Let’s solve problems.

Blitzer: Against deportation?

Carson: Liberty and justice for all. Secure the border. For those here we need to be reasonable. Six month period to register as guest worker. Pay penalties. No citizenship. That’s fair. Foreign aid to improve Mexican economy so they don’t come here.

Blitzer: Wall? Mexican government to pay for it? Vicente Fox said “I won’t pay for that fu*king wall” How would you make them pay?

Trump: The wall just got ten feet taller. This guy used a filthy word. We have a 58 billion trade deficit with Mexico. Unlike these guys I will build it for 10-12 billion. Mexico will pay for it. Mexico can stop the illegal immigration.

Blitzer: Trade war?

Trump: I don’t mind trade wars when we are losing. Same with China and a 500 billion trade deficit. Ford, Carrier, Nabisco, no more Oreos for me, all taking jobs to Mexico.

Trump: I’ve won those lawsuits. Here’s a guy who buys a house for a hundred grand then sells it to a lobbyist for 300 grand.

Arras: End DACA? But you said in Spanish that DACA won’t be cancelled immediately?

Rubio: Nothing changed. We’re compassionate. The executive order is unconstitutional.

Arras: But you changed on immediately ending DACA!

Rubio: It’s unconstitutional which Obama does on a regular basis.

Arras: You accused Cruz of lying when he said you said one thing in Spanish and another in English?

Rubio: I didn’t lie. I will cancel the executive order.

Trump: He lied.

Rubio: You lied. Statute of limitation on lies.

Cruz: Rubio called me a liar for what you have just said. Rubio did the same in Iowa on Ethanol. Marco said the same thing. He changed his position.

Rubio: Ethanol will phase out. I don’t agree with the mandate. I said on Spanish television I would end DACA. Obama violates the Constitution.

Arras: First Hispanic winner of a caucus. You two miss opportunity to expand the Republican base?

Cruz: The Media defines Hispanic only as those who are liberal. The values of our community, faith, family, are conservative principles. My father washed dishes. The Obama Clinton economy has hurt the Hispanic community.

Rubio; It is amazing that there are two Hispanics and an African-American. We are the diverse party. We don’t stand for socialism.

Arras: GOP said it needed Hispanic votes after the 2012 election. Do your fellow Republicans get it?

Trump: I don’t believe anything from Telemundo. I have employed many Hispanics. I won with Hispanics in Nevada. I will bring back jobs. They get it. I will bring in Democrats and independents. I bring in people, the Democrats are losing people. I won with record setting numbers. We’re building a new Republican Party.

Arras: You’ve said you love Telemundo. 80% of Hispanics don’t like you. Nevada was statistically insignificant.

Trump: I’m telling you I will do very well with Hispanics. I will grow a bigger stronger Republican Party.

Hewitt: Trust Trump to nominate to Supreme Court?

Cruz: The court hangs in the balance. The voters will assess. Republicans nominate disasters. I will nominate principled constitutionalists.

Rubio: He says he likes the ObamaCare mandate. I propose tax free income. Health savings accounts. Tax credits. ObamaCare is bad for health care and the economy. I will repeal it.

Trump: Get rid of ObamaCare. On pre-existing conditions we need to keep it.

Bash: But for that insurance companies need a mandate?

Trump: No they don’t. Insurance companies and lawyers in audience hurt health care. I self fund. Get rid of lines around the states to promote competition.

Bash: Barrier removal will solve the problems?

Trump: I know many of the lobbyists. They’re making a fortune. That will do it.

Rubio: You don’t follow this Donald but I stopped the bailout funds. What is your plan?

Trump: You don’t know what it means. His problem is he does not know about the lines. That’s why he melted under Christie. Brings in competition. Many companies in each state.

Rubio: that’s the whole plan?

Trump: Competition.

Rubio: Now you’re repeating yourself.

Trump: I watched him melt down on stage like a swimming pool.

Rubio: win win win he says the same thing over and over again.

Bash: Your plan?

Trump: Lot’s of plans, bring in competition.

Bash: Unamerican to not take care of Americans?

Kasich: It’s more complicated than what we have heard here. Get rid of ObamaCare. Cover the working poor. Give the money to the states. Transparency is needed especially for hospitals and physicians. Make the market work.

Bash: You proposed a mandate in Congress?

Kasich: It’s not tenable now. Transparency and give financial reward for those with high quality/low cost. Deductibles go higher today. We’re doing it in Ohio. Quality with lower prices even with pre-existing conditions.

Carson: Health care is not a right but a responsible society should get involved. Health care empowerment accounts I support. No middleman. Flexibility. Less cost for catastrophic health care.

Southern Born
February 25, 2016 at 9:51 pm
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Obviously, the government is going to have to provide some funding for the poor. It can be done, actually. He will have to work the art of the deal.

Kasich: Of 400,000 jobs only 15,000 from energy. We diversified the economy. Jobs, jobs, jobs.

Blitzer: Romney and a bombshell in tax returns?

Trump: I was the first to file financial disclosure. I built a great company. I did not ask for extensions for my disclosure. You don’t learn anything from a tax return. Romney looked like a fool when Harry Reid baited him. Romney handed his returns in September. I am always audited. I have to finish my audits first.

Hewitt: You told me you would release your returns?

Trump: Few listen to your show. Every year I get audited. As soon as the audit is done.

Hewitt: Rubio you have not released your tax returns.

Rubio: In a few days. I have not been audited. Entitlements are important because they are 83% of budget. Reform Social Security and Medicare to save them.

Hewitt: Where are your returns Cruz?

Cruz: In a few days. Trump being audited underscores the need to see his returns. 65% of Republicans don’t want Trump. Hillary is weak on corruption but Trump can’t do it. Trump can’t prosecute the case against Hillary.

Trump: I contribute to many politicians. I beat Ted everywhere and I’m even in Texas. I beat him in a landslide. I beat Hillary and I haven’t even started on her. They had a rough weekend when they called me sexist.

Cruz: He won’t release tax returns. He’s afraid. It’s a fraud case on Trump University. He’s said Hillary was a great secretary of state. He can’t beat her.

Trump: I’m beating him in the polls. Hillary beats him. The civil case against Trump University I won’t settle on principle. It’s unfair that every year I get audited. 12 years in a row.

Southern Born
February 25, 2016 at 9:51 pm
Trump is really not answering the questions…whoa…just his “I’m going to make American great” type of thing. Also people are not going to die on the streets…HOW. He is not telling us HOW.

neetabug. You still in Ohio? They opened a Hillary office in Shaker. We should meet there.
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I am still in Ohio. I will meet you there. My daughter will be getting married In Mar. I am busy with the wedding now. Will e-mail you.

Cruz: In a few days. Trump being audited underscores the need to see his returns. 65% of Republicans don’t want Trump. Hillary is weak on corruption but Trump can’t do it. Trump can’t prosecute the case against Hillary

Well Turd… err Ted, if 65% of Repubs don’t want Trump then why are you losing so badly?

Trump: I am a negotiator. Marco is not a negotiator. I watched him melt down. These people are tougher than Christie. You are not a negotiator. You will never bring peace. I may be able to do it. But that particular deal is the toughest.

Blitzer: Regime change in North Korea?

Kasich: Intercept ships and aircraft to prevent nuke materials from getting out. Arm the neighbors. China is acting now because of our actions. China is the key.

Blitzer: One million NK troops. Risk war?

Kasich: Take an opportunity for regime change in NK. The Chinese can do it.

Trump: We are in a position. We can no longer defend these countries because we can’t afford it. We defend Saudi Arabia. We defend all these countries for peanuts. We have to get reimbursed.

Kasich: We are all in agreement that we need to do this. These countries need to do more. We need to reform the Pentagon too.

Carson: I didn’t get asked about taxes, Israel. We have a system of taxation that is horribly wrong. I was never audited until I spoke at the breakfast. The IRS is not honest and we have to get rid of them. I was in Israel and they agree we have turned our back on them. We cannot turn our back on Israel but it does not mean we can’t be fair. In NK we need to have a robust naval presence and an overall strategy.

National Security.

Hugh Hewitt: Support Syrian cease fire?

Trump: It does not work. I like the idea but it does not work.

Cruz: We’re hopeful but skeptical. Obama is weak. Trump and Rubio agree with Hillary on Libya. Rubio voted to confirm Kerry and Trump gave him money. Kerry is a disaster.

Trump: I never discussed Libya. If these politicians went to the beach and did nothing we’d be better off. ISIS has taken over Libyan oil.

Rubio: The Libyan people toppled Quadaffi. I voted for Kerry to get rid of Hillary. Japan and South Korea contribute lots.

Trump: I never said walk away. We can’t afford to continue this way. As to Kerry, no one has been a harsher critic than I. Iran deal is a disaster for Israel.

Cruz: My website will have the Trump Libya comments. Mike Bloomberg went to Israel but not Trump. Trump supports anti-Israel politicians.

Trump: No one here has done more for Israel than I. This guys a joke, this guy’s a liar.

Kasich: Obama has been feckless. We should have supported rebels long ago. Libya went down because of Hillary not the Libyan people. Now ISIS has a foothold in Libya. ISIS is also in Iraq. It’s a mess.

Is it me, I just don’t care for the way Trump talks to people. He sounds like he talks down to people when things don’t go his way. He stands up on stage with his nose in the air. He is always trying to out talk the candidate so you can’t hear what they are saying. I just can’t see him in the White House hollering and screaming. This bothers me.

No doubt he is arrogant neetabug, but it resonates as “tough” and/or “non-establishment” to many. I personally did not care for Trump as a person before this election, but he has added an element totally never seen in modern politics. I also never voted republican until 2008 so I, like Donald, have evolved.

No doubt he is arrogant neetabug, but it resonates as “tough” and/or “non-establishment
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Note: They were saying the same thing about O (arrogant) But it is ok for Trump

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But we all knew Barry was an asshole…and turned out to be bigger one than we could have imagined. He never supported America. Remember the infamous shot of the Dem Candidates standing in front of the Flag and Obama was the only one not with his hand on his heart. His intent was / is to destroy America.

Donald Trump is unstoppable. At least as far as the race to win the GOP nomination goes.

It’s time for the Republican Party to drag their horrified, appalled, in-denial Ostrich heads out of the sands stretching across America from Malibu to the Hamptons and admit what everyone else can see is the bleeding obvious. [snip]

People no longer see him as a novelty candidate. It’s become OK to admit you’re backing him.

Put it this way: Nevada is the epicentre of gambling in the world, and if I were a betting man I would now be heading down to Vegas to slam every dollar I have on him wrapping up this race pretty damn quickly.

The problem for the GOP is that – unlike the voters – most of the people at the head of the party view Trump as nominee with the kind of horror with which I would react to hearing that Madonna was baby-sitting my children.

I think this sentiment is misguided, because I believe Trump now represents by far their best chance of winning a general election.

Here are 10 reasons why:

1) Hillary Clinton, odds-on favourite to be Democrat nominee, is terrified of Trump. Forget all her bullish rhetoric, she now knows that in a straight fight for the White House, he’d be the worst kind of vicious, smart, unpredictable and populist opponent. Look how she instantly backtracked on branding him anti-women when he retaliated by going nuclear on Bill Clinton’s infidelities.

2) Trump is utterly fearless. Punch him and he’ll punch you harder back. He’s confronted everyone and everything from China and ISIS to John McCain and the Pope – and done so with an unshakeable verve and gusto which has had even his most bitter enemies shaking their heads in silent appreciation.

3) He’s not Ted Cruz. If you think Trump would be a dangerous president, then trust me, he’s not even first base of menace compared to the extreme right wing zealot from Texas. Consider their relative positions on illegal immigrants: Trump wants a wall to stop more of them pouring into the country; Cruz wants every one of the current 12 million illegal immigrants living in America deported. One is a more draconian version of existing policy, the other is cruel, inhumane madness.

4) He’s not Marco Rubio. As much as desperate GOP chiefs are now trying to big up the pint-sized, baby-faced senator, the truth is that he comes over as an inexperienced, amateurish little nerd who can’t even drink a bottle of water without looking weird. Hillary would eat him for breakfast and spit him out for lunch.

5) Trump calls a spade a spade. There is, whether you love him or loathe him – and the entire world now appears to be firmly locked into one of those two camps – an indisputably refreshing candour to his public speaking. Trump doesn’t care for politic niceties, he just calls it how he says it. That plain-talking is resonating powerfully. Americans are fed up with Washington types spewing politically-correct platitudes whilst talking and behaving entirely differently behind closed doors.

6) He stands up to the media. I was filming a documentary in Texas and Florida last week and was struck by how many people in those states cited to me Trump’s refusal to be dictated to or trampled on by the news media, both TV and print, as a reason they would vote for him. He’s even waged war with Fox News, something no other Conservative candidate would have previously ever dared to do. By doing so, he’s reinforced his independent ‘heroic outsider’ credentials.

7) He’s paying his own way. Trump’s repeated reminder that he doesn’t need donor cash because he’s so loaded himself is a powerful asset. The message is crystal clear: ‘I can’t be bought.’ Compare and contrast to Hillary Clinton, who spends much of her time taking big cheques from the likes of Goldman Sachs. This will be a huge battleground if the race turns out to be a match-off between the two of them.

8) He works hard and has been massively successful – the very currency of the American dream. Nobody can doubt that Trump puts the hours in, displaying extraordinary energy for a guy who lives off three hours sleep a night. Running for president is tough. But so is president, as Barack Obama’s grey hair can testify. Trump is also a brilliant negotiator, and half the battle in politics is having the ability to do deals. He’s done it all his life, and been transparently skilled at it.

9) He stands up for regular Americans. They see in Trump someone who will fight their corner. Hence his carefully crafted comment last night, ‘I love educated people and I love poorly-educated people’. I’ve walked around the streets of New York with Trump and he has an almost mesmeric appeal to working-class blue collar Americans despite his immense wealth. That’s because he never talks down to them, instead he trashes those like the bankers of Wall Street who he slams for ‘wrecking’ the livelihoods of ordinary Americans. Trump, to them, is Robin Hood not the Sheriff of Nottingham.

10) He has a great potential First Family. Trump’s wife Melania is beautiful, elegant, and a legal immigrant who represents the very epitome of the American dream. As she said last night about her path to U.S. citizenship: ‘I followed the law, I never thought to stay here without papers.’ Trump’s children are equally impressive, especially his daughter Ivanka who I know well and is a highly intelligent, classy young working mother. Optics matter in presidential races and the Trumps look great standing together on a podium.

Above all, Trump is a winner, who doesn’t just talk the talk but walks the walk.

Very few people gave him a prayer of winning the GOP nomination when he entered the race eight months ago – except Donald Trump.

Now those same doubters, including many Republicans, insist he hasn’t got a chance of beating Hillary Clinton in a general election.

They were wrong then, and they are wrong now.

As his thumping victory in Nevada has shown: you should never bet against Donald Trump.

No I don’t think Hillary is telling the truth on how much she likes some of Obama’s plans…I wouldn’t doubt that she does like him more than any of us would have after 2008.

I also don’t think she would have a reason to even run for President at all if she decided to do during the election is to rip into all the mistakes Obama has done during his presidency.

Would I like to hear her tear into him, of course…but I would rather she didn’t put him on blast like Trump does, because she might as well end her campaign than blow it up doing that.

I do think she would rather work with rearranging ObamaCare than to repeal it and hope she could convince Dims and the Repubs in Congress to start all over and come up with a good healthcare plan. Republican’s won’t budge on another ‘universal’ healthcare plan. She has been quite open about this, many times in her debates.

I think when Trump says that he wants to Make America Great Again, is a great brand, but when pinned down, he can’t talk in detail on how he plans to make things better. I have listened closely, and he never goes into any details, especially on health care.

He even said that if he had plan #1 through plan #14 all figured out, he would negotiate the deal and since everything might change, he would rather not talk about the deal he would end up with.

I do not trust Trump enough to take his word for it that he would come up with the best plan, I want to know what he plans to do before I consider a vote for any candidate.

Someone that can’t talk more than on just on basic slogans or ideas isn’t someone I want as President.

I know that you like a fighter and think Hillary has bent over for too many people, but I do believe she has real plans, works hard, will work with others and will never give up to do her best if she is President.

“Trump’s winning or having any well thought out plans, is in the eyes of the beholder. He is not Presidential material to me…Sorry folks, I think Trump is a con-man.”
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Shadow, after tonight and in recent weeks, I’m finally perhaps coming to the same conclusion about Donald Trump. I’m beginning to no longer see his shouting rude comments at others as strength. I no longer can give him the benefit of the doubt about exactly HOW he is going to do some of the things he “says” he is going to do. Just telling us that the wall will be higher and beautiful is not enough. Just saying he is going to have an unbelievably beautiful health care plan that will include everyone and no one dies on the streets means what exactly. My cousin who has been in the business end of health care says that we already have that now. If you are in really bad shape and show up at a hospital they cannot turn you away? Of course, our health care insurance and costs go up to pay for that. So what are the specifics besides getting to buy insurance across state lines? Exactly HOW is Mr. Trump going to make Mexico pay for the wall that is now going to be 10 feet taller? Does this mean starting a trade war or what? I need to know specifics with the words beautiful, fantastic, great NOT in it.

Now Trump tells us he is neutral in the Middle East and can’t take Israel’s side because he wants to negotiate a deal? Whoa! That is beginning to sound a bit like Obama. So Trump gave a lot of money he says to Jewish organizations. But then he also gave money to many Democrats and also Reps and other groups we might not support because he said he was in business…the art of the deal. So what does that mean as president. Is all Mr. Trump’s tough talk just talk? I don’t know anymore.

If Donald Trump is throwing out nasty, demeaning, personal comments to those who do not agree with him, I fear what he will do when he really has power as the president. Will he try to use the full force of the FBI, CIA, DOJ, media, etc to absolutely destroy anyone who stand up against his policies or anyone who says anything negative about him? I’m afraid that I may no longer see those characteristics in Trump as strength. I’m beginning to wonder if they are the weaknesses of just a bully.

I’m sorry I know on this site this are not the prevailing mood or a popular stance but the great thing about America and also Hillary is 44 is that we can say what we honestly feel in our hearts and that we can express doubts and fears.

Tonight was the straw that kinda broke the camel’s back for me with Donald Trump. It seems that people voted for Obama and sadly believed him when he said Hope and Change and that he was going to change America. And no wonder after the 8 vile years of President George Bush Jr. What a mistake that was. Now after 8 years of the even viler President Barack Obama, they are falling for the same thing to get as far away from BO as possible and they are falling for perhaps the same radical stance but on the Rep side. As administrator wisely said that after the snake pit of the Obama administration, people are looking for the strongest stick and meanest bully…NOT necessarily the best person for the presidency… but the meanest stick.

So in 4 or 8 years of President Donald Trump will people fall for this same mistake once again and elect a bully Democrat because they are sick of Trump. I, too, was sick to death of Bush Jr. and what he did to our country just as I’m angry and sick of Obama and what he is trying to do to America.

But it is beginning to seem to me that this see saw mess must stop. We need to vote rationally for once not just for radical change and the meanest stick.

Southern, I went though the same considerations a month or two ago, that you are going though now. At first, I was not amused at the way Trump presented himself and after all his bragging about what a great negotiator he was…I was waiting to see if he was going to be good in the debates or not. I was very disappointed to find little substance in the Rep. ‘debates’, and how quickly it turned to name calling, and childish antics like ‘liar, worst liar, nobody likes Cruz, etc.

I expected more out of Trump, but all I knew of him before this was his outlandish comments that got into the news and his short appearances on Celebrity Apprentice. This isn’t a celebrity show, it’s serious stuff being a good President. He has disappointed me.

It has also made me proud of how Hillary has handled herself in debates…and I wonder how she will handle the mud throwing from Trump when they have their final battle. I have a feeling she will come out fighting like a girl, and and have a lot of eye rolling at his crass remarks.

HARRISBURG, Pa. – Police say a central Pennsylvania high school honors student was actually a 23-year-old Ukrainian national using a false identity after his visa expired.
Artur Samarin was arrested and charged Tuesday by the Harrisburg police.
Police say he pretended to be Harrisburg High School student Asher Potts, who had a 4.16 grade-point average and was in the National Honor Society. Samarin was actively involved at the school, working with a student advisory group on a food bank, and a member of the school’s ROTC and Naval Sea Cadet programs.
Police say he had a Pennsylvania driver’s license in Potts’ name when he was arrested.
Online court records don’t list an attorney for Samarin, who remained in the Dauphin County jail Thursday on charges including identity theft and tampering with public records.

Most “journalists” cited the perps motives as under investigation. The 23 year old HS kid was in ROTC.

For ONCE I agree with Kasich. He wants to be VP. I don’t trust him, nor his huggies, as far as I can throw him.

Cruz and Rubio did not lay glove on Trump. They had no choice but to go nasty but it is too late. Trump saying he gets audited EVERY fucking year will only bring sympathy and make the Democratic government look BAD. Glenn Reynolds talks about a preference cascade starting. http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2016/02/25/donald-trump-supporters-brexit-preference-falsfication-2016-primaries-column/80856410/ I still think it all started with the border hordes overrunning the southern border, Trump hopped the train on with build a wall, and Merkel accelerated it with her idiocy and the EU technocrats impotence. You don’t stop preference cascades once the public turns. Another way to put it is globalists on the run. Ted and Rubio are just a different flavor of globalists.

“… the Nevada Caucus results seemed to halt [Bernie’s] momentum enough for Clinton to take advantage in South Carolina, the first Southern state on the calendar. African-Americans, who make up a sizable part of the Democratic vote in the Palmetto State, have been Clinton’s most reliable constituency. And she isn’t taking them for granted, making clear at rallies and other campaign events that their concerns are a true priority for her.
“Ending systemic racism requires contributions from all of us — especially those of us who haven’t experienced it ourselves,” Clinton said in a recent Facebook Q&A. “White Americans need to do a better job of listening when African-Americans talk about the seen and unseen barriers that you face every day. We need to recognize our privilege and practice humility, rather than assume that our experiences are everyone’s experiences. So I’m going to keep spreading this message — and not just in front of African-American audiences. I’m going to keep talking to every kind of audience about this.”
It seems to be working in South Carolina. Reporters following the Sanders campaign say he is now “all but writing the state off….”http://www.oregonlive.com/today/index.ssf/2016/02/south_carolina_democratic_prim.html

WTF Hillary. There’s even a clip somewhere on TV of her bringing up Mother Emmanuel church shooting. The young white perp was more likely alarmed at Obama tactics than he was a racist What she’s doing is an assist to the overall Sharpton/Obama effort. [My source is Chicago paper’s published interview of adults, friends, who knew Dylaan Roof 5 years previous to shooting. But it was going to be such the perfect setting for POTUS to join black clergy on stage to sing Amazing Grace, give homily of his choosing, that the other side of the coin was not allowed to permeate.]

At the time I felt so sorry for that congregation. Many had come forward at the hearing for Roof and vowed they would not “let the hate win.”
When Obama signalled he’d be there, those beautiful Christians had to step aside, let POTUS use it as he saw fit.

Trump has the most clearly stated plan of any candidate in either party.
He has been clear as to how he will bring jobs back and severely cut into our trillions of national debt. Policy sounds nice, but NOTHING can be done without money. You need money and jobs to make a difference in peoples lives, education and healthcare. He has been clear on cutting waste and abuse and is the only candidate with a prove record of management. That is why so many support him.

Hillary
“We need to recognize our privilege and practice humility, rather than assume that our experiences are everyone’s experiences. So I’m going to keep spreading this message — and not just in front of African-American audiences. I’m going to keep talking to every kind of audience about this.”
————–
Gee Hillary. Will you soon support reparations to pay for our so called “privilege” Pander much??

16 August 2015. Trump distributes his immigration policy. Senator Jeff Sessions, who was largely responsible for it’s content was at rally wearing Trump hat. May have been day before or day after the one given here. I know it was available for print on a Sunday. Google source gives date mentioned. On that day I made two copies, took them to Shirley’s, and we read it together.

Please Hillary supporters, discuss her here, and vote for her. Just don’t use rotten “facts” when you’re bringing Donald down, because when you do that, I have a tough time keeping my digital mouth shut.

lol
Has Hillary released her taxes?
What are Hillary’s specific plans? Oh, yeah, Obama III – how handy. Oh but she’s *not* going to really be Obama III? So what are her specific plans? Oh, no one knows. Hmmmm.

I’d like to know who, in an election, has been specific about the details of their plans, and when still in the primary no less….? Who in history?

It’s funny – Obama encouraged people to treat him like a blank slate, to project their own wishes on him.

This time around, Hillary supporters are doing it themselves with Hillary – assuming she is not who she has been saying for 7 years that she is, and projecting what they want on her.

Trump has been very clear about his beliefs and what he wants to happen. And there are 30 years of video of him saying the same things about how to fix this country.

Oh, but he doesn’t list every detail of every plan (which NO one does, including Hillary). His opponents have already copied him in substance on everything he has brought up. With details, though, they can attack him on those details.

He should have known that the best plan was to say one set of things full of pandering and take lots of money from special interests, but plan to do something else – (oh but then what to do with the all the people you are owned by?). Well, anyway, that’s the ticket – he’d be a real politician then! And that’s what we want – another politician! Yay!

No doubt he is arrogant neetabug, but it resonates as “tough” and/or “non-establishment” to many. I personally did not care for Trump as a person before this election, but he has added an element totally never seen in modern politics. I also never voted republican until 2008 so I, like Donald, have evolved.
_______________________________________________________________________________

This sums it up concisely.

I’ll add that I DO think he’s obnoxious, and his demeanor is NOT what I associate with “presidential”.

That said, he makes all the right heads explode and what he is saying cuts to the nub of what is wrong with this Country.

I suspect only he or Cruz have any inclination to actually shake this F’d up oligarchy off our backs, and Cruz ain’t going to get the nomination.

So Trump it is. And I say that as someone who never voted for a GOP until 2010.

Most of us spend less time on this blog because it has turned into a Trump supporting site, but after being with admin and many of the folks I care about here as people, for so many years, it’s difficult for me to totally stay away.

I don’t think it’s odd that Big Pink no longer has a banner for Hillary and many times starts out the title of the new thread with Trump’s twitter hashtag.

Each of us has to support the candidate they think will be the best President, and Hillary is that person for me.

The problem with the whole Black Lives Matter” is it’s selective enforcement of injustices. All can agree AA men are more at risk at being shot by a police officer than your average white male. However, as pointed out above, this is a small % of black homicides. The movement attempts to make it a black /white issue, when the reality is that blacks are killing blacks in record numbers. The leadership defers this by using the police as a straw man. Been the same for decades. Why is it that the AA community is content with this status quo? Entitlements for the truly needed are fine, but it’s time to have a vibrant black middle class in every state.

Well Christie and, Huckabee are worthy in that they have ability to speak well but carry a small voting block. They will get on the channels and I only pray that Christy kicks the snot out of Rubio slippers